Even with the GOP presidential primary still very much in progress, the RNC is moving full speed ahead with its ground game in key battleground states — a marked departure from 2008, when it didn’t initiate its efforts in earnest until after John McCain was the likely nominee.

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This time around, the national party doesn’t want to make the same mistake it did four years ago when the RNC had been ready to launch but held off at the McCain campaign’s request. As a result, some 90 days that could have been spent building up field operations passed by and Republicans were never able to catch up effectively — especially after Barack Obama used the protracted Democratic primary fight to build up his operation in all 50 states.

“They just lost a lot of time [four years ago] and we just know we can’t do that,” RNC Political Director Rick Wiley told POLITICO. “We’ve had conversations with all of the campaigns to say we’re going to move forward on this stuff because I think [everyone] realized what happened in 2008.”

Back then, Obama’s campaign also built up an extensive network of grass-roots contacts, one they have been cultivating and reaching out to for four years through social media and a low-dollar donor program. The Democratic National Committee has already been working on its plans for turnout and targeted outreach without the burden of a fractious primary.

As a result, the RNC is unilaterally moving ahead, using specific opportunities as they present themselves to ramp up for the fall.

By the end of April, the RNC will have staff in 10 of the 12 battleground states, Wiley said. They’ve made 750,000 voter contacts since the first of the year. They’ve had voter registration programs in Nevada and Colorado and will be doing one in Florida.

And the national party has taken advantage of some of the races in targeted states to build out their files and their field games.

“I feel pretty good about where we are in terms of the activities” undertaken so far, Wiley said. “We’ve taken advantage of the races that we’ve had.”